Farmers’ protest: Is AAP Punjab govt finally concerned over repeated farmers, protests?

The SKM Punjab chapter is a conglomerate of 37 farmer unions, while the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), the largest farmer union of Punjab, is an associate member of the SKM.

Prem Singh Bhangu, president of All India Kisan Federation, a constituent of the SKM, said, “The SKM national chapter has decided to organise protests in several states on different dates, raising state- and Centre-specific demands, and also to press the Centre to withdraw the draft National Policy Framework on Agriculture Marketing (NPFAM). Though the Punjab government has passed a resolution against the NPFAM, we want them to pass another resolution against the six amendments made in the Agriculture Produces Market Committee Act by the previous state governments led by the SAD-BJP combine and the Congress.”

“There were 18 demands, of which 17 were concerning the state. We wanted to talk to the CM about those demands but he said the demands were related to the Centre, which is a blatant lie. So, he walked away from his responsibilities,” Bhangu alleged.

However, Mann acquired a tough stance on Wednesday. Speaking with mediapersons in Zirakpur, the CM said, “They (farmer union leaders) shouldn’t take advantage of my soft stance. We can take action against them as well. We will not let Punjab become a protest state. When farmer union leaders told me that morcha would continue irrespective of talks with them, then I got up and told them that I was cancelling the meeting and they could organise the morcha. I am always open to talks with farmers. Even in the past, I had been talking to them.”

BJP leaders, who have been opposed to the farmers’ ‘Dilli Chalo’ protests at Shambhu and Khanauri, condemned the police action on farmer leaders.

Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu said, “The Bhagwant Mann-led government has made an emergency-like situation in Punjab by resorting to police action on farm leaders. We have repeatedly been stating that the chief minister has turned the state into a police state, The Punjab Police’s action on farmers is highly condemnable, clearly reflecting the anti-farmer mindset of the AAP government.”

Bittu had in November 2024 stated that “there should be an investigation into properties of farmer union leaders”.

Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar had recently stated that if farmer union leaders were against the NPFAM, then why did not they raise questions over the draft agriculture policy of Punjab, favouring commission agents?

Jakhar had even questioned why farmer union leaders had not raised their voices when they faced so much of procurement pangs during the paddy procurement season.

Punjab BJP spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal said, “This is the difference. The BJP-ruled state governments not only provide farmers with the MSP on wheat but also give them a bonus and engage in discussions on every issue. On the other hand, forget about the bonus, the Punjab government cannot even fully utilise the central funds for purchasing paddy on the MSP. However, if someone as
ks for an account of the losses farmers suffered in the paddy procurement or demands payment of MSP on moong, they are arrested.”

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, too, targeted Mann for the police action. The Congress has been sympathetic to the farmers protesting at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders.

However, industrialists and traders welcomed the state government’s move.

Badish Jindal, president of the All Industries and Trade Forum, said, “We welcome the Punjab CM’s move. This should have happened much earlier. Given the present conditions, farming is also a business and if a farmer doesn’t find it profitable, he can switch over to some other profession. Real farmers are still suffering. It’s high time to get the Shambhu and Khanauri borders opened.”

Anil Bansal, senior vice-president of the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, said, “Farmer unions are running a parallel government. I had stated this in the past too. We welcome this move by the Punjab CM. They (the state government) have realised they will lose urban votes if they continue supporting such protests. Businessmen from other states have started calling Punjab a ‘Dharne wala Punjab’.

The state needs to grow. If they (farmers) have the right to protest, we have the right to live in peace as well. Protests can’t be organised now and then.”

“This time the demands were concerning the Punjab government, so the Punjab CM acted tough. When the demands are related to the Centre, the CM allows farmers to block highways. Why this double standard?” a Ludhiana industrialist sought to know from Mann.

The last time farmers protested in Chandigarh was in September 2024 at Sector 34 Dussehra ground and one more location in Sector 34 and Sector 39.

On May 26, 2021, the SKM had organised a tractor march in Chandigarh against the three farm laws and received widespread response from the city residents.

In 2008, a few farmer unions had protested in Chandigarh against the privatisation of the Punjab State Electricity Board.

However, protests by the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and the SKM (Non-Political) on NH-44 and NH-52 at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders with Haryana have been going on unabated since February 13 last year, pressing the Centre to accept all their demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP on all crops.

Though the KMM and SKM (Non-Political) were not part of the Chandigarh march call, they also condemned the police action on farmer union leaders.

“Highways have been blocked at Shambhu and Khanauri for over a year, so we hope the CM will understand the inconvenience caused to the public. He should act fairly,” Bansal said.

Farmer union leaders have been circulating old videos of Mann and his Cabinet colleagues sitting at various dharnas in Punjab from 2017 to 2022 when in opposition. Mann, too, had earlier stated “Why can’t they (farmers) come to Delhi? Why Haryana is stopping them? Should they come via Lahore?”